


beautiful crime

by Anonymous



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternative Universe - Special Agents, Blood and Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Lawyer Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smut, Special Agent Johnny Suh, Special Agent Lee Taeyong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:26:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29804274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: When Johnny gets suspended from his job as an agent with NCT Special Investigations, he decides to investigate the case on his own, despite the constant dangers he's facing. However, he doesn't know that his replacement, his new neighbor named Lee Taeyong, gets put on the case.At first, they don't know about the other and their game begins.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Kudos: 9
Collections: Anonymous





	beautiful crime

"You're suspended, Johnny. Orders from the top."

"Oh, sure." Johnny gave his friend one of his charming yet arrogant grins. Like a little mischievous boy. 

Johnny was lounging on the shabby sofa in Doyoung's office, the office cat Chenle in his lap, scratching it behind the ear. Chenle purred, overjoyed, and rubbed its head against Johnny's cheek. The cat loved Johnny to death, might even kill for him someday.

Johnny glared at his friend. "Doyoungie, I am neither amused nor entertained, please stop with these jokes."

Doyoung lowered his chin to his chest and let out a heavy sigh. Slowly, he set aside the files in his hands before meeting Johnny's gaze.

"It's not a joke," he said. "Go get your things and leave for home." 

"Wait." Johnny picked the cat up and set it down beside him. His eyes grew wide. "You're _serious_ about this," he breathed, a fire burning in his eyes.

Doyoung clenched his jaw, clearly uncomfortable. He had volunteered to deliver the unpleasant message to Johnny. If it had been anyone other than Doyoung, this professional agent in front of him would have leapt at the throat of the person telling him in a heartbeat. Doyoung wanted to avoid collateral damage. 

"This decision wasn't easy for any of us. But we all have agreed it's what's best for you."

"No, wait, _no_!" Johnny stepped up to Doyoung and slammed his hands on the desk. Doyoung flinched, but his expression remained composed and calm. The framed picture of their team on his left fell over and the files fluttered to the floor. Johnny's voice shook in disbelief. "I am his best man. _He_ needs me. My _team_ needs me. He-he can't just-"

Doyoung’s glance shot up. "Yes, you _are_ his best man," his hand put the picture back up," and it's for the very reason that your team _needs_ you that we've decided to take you off active duty for now." He was getting angry but not at Johnny. That was a rare thing to happen, and never meant anything good. "We don't want to witness you breaking down little by little right in front of us." Reaching out, he rested his hand over Johnny's trembling fingers, giving them a squeeze. "Johnny," he said, "we are trying to help you."

"I will _not_ break down," Johnny gritted out, pulled his hand back and looked to the side, his eyes covered by the raven black hair that had fallen into his forehead. He let out a shaking breath. " _Fine_ , maybe I've been a little distracted lately, but that's only to be expected given the circumstances." He straightened up and balled his hands into shaking fists, pressing his lips together and turning away. Closing his eyes. A memory played in his brain, a bloody, ugly memory he needed to forget. But couldn’t. _Maybe they were right. But he couldn't stop here, not when he was so close to achieving his goal._

"I'm a human being, not a _cripple_. Even if you guys are treating me like one," Johnny forced out and his voice sounded weak, vulnerable. He hated this loss of control. This betrayal of his body. 

Doyoung sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, raised a hand before Johnny could go on. 

"Johnny. Listen." He glanced up, cold eyes tracing Johnny’s set jaw. "You need time to sort things out," he said and supported his arms on the table, fingers folded. "Go home, read a good book, call one of your pretty ladies or men, do whatever. Try having some fun and allow your wounds to heal." A pause. "And please, get some professional help." 

Johnny crossed his arms and gave a cynical snort. "It doesn't affect my job." He turned to Doyoung, gaze piercing the younger one. "You can't throw me out without a good reason." 

Doyoung's eyes suddenly softened, the hard lines at the corners of his mouth were fading away. 

"But it affects _you_." 

"I always believed you were on my side, Doyoung," Johnny said in a lower voice than normal and Doyoung's heart grew heavy. Johnny would only speak like that if he had been truly hurt. And the fact that Doyoung was one of the reasons for his pain hit him, hard. But it was for Johnny's own good. That's the silent mantra he was holding onto and he wouldn't give in. 

"I was," Doyoung breathed out. "Until I saw how miserable you were." 

His glance fell on Johnny's sleeve-covered wrists. "You got through it once, you can get through it again. But you'll need time, rest, and patience." 

"No, Doyoung, please...I still can-" 

Johnny was breaking, despair mixing into his voice. Doyoung knew why that was, and fuck, he hated the role he had to uphold right now, but he didn't have a choice. Johnny would keep going until no doctor in the world would be able to save him - and that was something that had to be prevented at all costs. They had to save Johnny from himself. He loved Johnny like a brother, Johnny’s pain was his pain, so he _had_ to do this. 

"I'll drive you home, Johnny." Doyoung cut him off, threw Johnny his leather jacket and grabbed his car keys.  
"Let's go." 

*********************

"He told me to go get laid and feel better."

Jaehyun smirked up at him. "Total male asshole-attitude."

Johnny slowly pulled out of Jaehyun, the latter letting out a low moan at the loss of Johnny’s thick warmth stretching his insides. He threw the cum-filled condom to the floor and continued venting his anger. 

"As if sex were the cure for all the bullshit in the world. But at least now I can tell him I tried." 

Johnny rolled onto his back and threw his arms behind his head to use them as a pillow, biceps flexing. Their bodies were covered in sweat, and both their breathing still rapid and hard. 

The blanket glided down to Johnny's waist as he lazily moved in the sheets and Jaehyun's sharp eyes observed him through the pitch-black bedroom. The impulse to touch Johnny was impossible to resist and so he reached out, felt over hard chest muscles, ripped abs; let his fingertips trace down the long scar which was running over Johnny's right hip bone down to more explicit parts of the taller one’s body. Must have hurt and bled like hell. Johnny had told him he got the scar from a motorcycle crash but Jaehyun knew that he had been lied to. 

Johnny shuddered at the teasing touch and let out a groan, a warning, his hand closing over Jaehyun's wrist like a vice as he pulled him impossibly closer. Jaehyun’s breath hitched.

"Don’t." Johnny’s tone was icy, too much contact. He sat up in bed and the sheets slid off his hips, exposing his body. 

Johnny always turned the lights off before they had sex and it was such a shame, Jaehyun thought. He wished to see Johnny's full face and body just once.

"Time for you to go, Jae." A low whisper. An order.

Jaehyun gritted his teeth but obeyed. He always did, didn't want to anger Johnny. Their sex was too good, the best he ever had in fact, for him to mess the thing they had up, but he wanted to have some more of this man. Of his heart, preferred. But Johnny wouldn’t allow that, and this knowledge made Jaehyun furious beyond belief. He had always gotten what he wanted in his life. Jaehyun had worked his ass off to become the proud, successful man he was today. He did not dwell on his success and he desired Johnny. He _wanted_ him but Johnny didn't want him. 

"Fair enough," he said.

The mattress tilted to one side as Jaehyun settled on the edge of the bed, lighting a cigarette before standing up and collecting his pants from the floor, which he had lost in the heat of passion somewhere between the entrance and the living room. 

Jaehyun glanced back to the dark bedroom. He tortured his soul by sleeping with a man who only thought of him as a guy who satiated his sexual hunger. Always going back to Johnny, immediately blushing at a message from him, and rescheduling all his appointments to meet with him was frustrating and stupid, but Jaehyun was already in too deep to stop. He wondered what his clients would think of him if they knew that one of the top lawyers of Seoul was in fact such a dirty whore. Well, Jaehyun could imagine the reactions quite vividly. 

The doorbell rang.

Suddenly in a bad mood, Johnny put on a shirt and loose sweatpant that hung dangerously low on his hips and shoved a hand through his messy hair, tried to untangle it, but he looked wrecked, smelled like sex und smoke. Couldn't help it then and he didn’t care.

Reaching for a mask, he made his way out of the bedroom, put the mask on, and pushed a smirking, half-naked Jaehyun aside. He stopped, eyes flashing in the dark. The corners of Johnny's mouth twitched. He probably hadn't manhandled the guy hard enough. 

So fast that untrained eyes couldn't follow his movement, he snatched the wine bottle from Jaehyun's hand as the latter was about to take a sip. First-class vintage, had cost a fortune. A get-well present from Doyoung. This prick. 

"Hey, I wanted to drink that!"

"No, you wanted to leave," Johnny said, placed two fingers under Jaehyun’s chin lifting his head up before snatching the cigarette from Jaehyun’s lips with an arrogant smirk. He took a draw, then blew out a cloud of smoke, before whispering:"Thanks baby. Was mine anyway."

He crossed the room in long, confident strides and reached for the doorknob, turning it. 

Cold air brushed over his bare skin, his eyes widened and he blinked in surprise as he stood face to face with a young man. A strawberry blonde beauty and every gay male office worker’s fantasy. _Nice view._

"Uhmm… hey there, sorry to bother you. I'm Lee Taeyong, so I moved into the apartment next door yesterday and wanted to introduce myself. Brought you some chocolate cookies I baked."

 _Weak points would be joints, neck, face, groin._ The information flashed through Johnny's mind in the time it took him to offer the man his most charming smile. 

"Thanks. Lee Youngho." Holding out a hand his eyes fell on the cookies. "Oh wow, could get used to that," he said and accepted the sweets, popping one cookie into his mouth right away - and wow, this was one firm handshake crushing his fingers - hoping he wouldn't drop dead from poisoning in a minute. "These are good," he grinned and a genuine smile spread on Taeyong’s lips upon getting praised. "How very sweet of you. Any chance I can keep you?"

"Errrr ... no. Baking cookies isn't too hard, you know." Taeyong blushed, taken off guard by the straightforwardness of Johnny's question. "I can give you the recipe if you want"

"I didn't ask for the recipe, did I?" 

Just then, his back got smacked hard and he drew in a sharp breath. 

Jaehyun slipped past the two, grabbing a cookie he didn’t deserve while casually pulling his shirt over his bare chest. He flashed Taeyong an obscene grin before sauntering to the elevator as if he were the prince of Seoul. Sassy princess.

"Until next time, Youngho!" He waved without turning back, made an explicit gesture with his hand, and disappeared. Johnny, however, saw with growing satisfaction that Jaehyun's stride indicated that he was in pain. _Well, serves him right_ , he thought and bit his lower lip to keep the big grin off his face. 

_Whatever._ He shrugged and turned to face Taeyong. 

Taeyong, in the meantime, had watched Jaehyun go with a slightly disgusted grimace. Then he sighed and met Johnny’s eyes, didn’t back off like people usually did as they got examined by Johnny’s intense gaze. This guy was tough, no doubt.

"Haven't you ever baked anything before? I mean, you’re a grown man after all." Taeyong asked, shifting from his left foot to the right. "It's easy, even my three-year-old nephew can do it, all you have to do is mix butter, sugar, flour..."

Without being asked to do so by Johnny or just _anyone_ , Taeyong launched into a detailed description of the recipe, sounded somewhat like a little soldier giving out orders. _Cute_. But Johnny had already stopped listening after the third word had left this pretty mouth. He simply didn't feel like it. Instead, he found it much more fascinating to watch the smaller man's plump lips move and curl as he spoke. _Interesting._

"Everything clear so far?" 

Sharp eyes met his. Johnny's head shot up.

"Sure, butter, sugar, flour ... I forgot about the rest. Does it matter?"

Taeyong's jaw dropped and he wrinkled his nose, looking like he had just eaten a whole spoonful of lemon juice in one go. As for Johnny, he was amazed by the fact that Taeyong's smile was dripping with honey while his face was clearly sending a different, totally-not-amused message. Something that kind of turned Johnny on. _Interesting, indeed._

"I'll move on to the next apartment then," Taeyong deadpanned. "Must be because he’s a grown man after all, cookies attack his manhood," he mumbled to himself, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips.

"Wait a second!" Johnny's hand fleetingly touched Taeyong's arm, his eyes got serious.

For Taeyong’s big eyes, they got even bigger. "Yeah?" 

"Please be wary of the old gentleman in room 302, he's a drunk whose hands like to slip and grab some ass." He wrinkled his nose. "Been an experience I could have done without."

Taeyong blinked at Johnny, looked him slowly up and down. "One might have to admire the man for his _exceptional_ courage."

Johnny snorted. "I take that as a compliment," he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. "Good luck to you, then. Don't say I didn't warn you." 

Grinning, he winked at Taeyong, took a step back, and, without a warning, closed the door shut. 

Stripping off his clothes and tossing them to the floor, Johnny went to the bathroom where he turned on the tap of the bathtub. With an exhausted sigh, he finally let himself slide into the hot water, stretched out his long legs and rested his arms on the edges. He prayed that the heat would burn the shitty day off his body. 

However, as he tried to relax, his protective shields lowered automatically. As a result, ancient memories of other terrors crept back into the light of day. Johnny realized it too late, as his past knocked on the door of his consciousness once again. 

_Remember Johnny: a good soldier doesn’t need to know why. He just needs to know how. Go seduce this man, then kill him, go kill this woman, first seduce, then kill, learn her weaknesses and report back to me. Be a good dog and obey. Killing can be kind._

His body shook violently despite the hot water covering him and his head felt as if someone had smashed it with a hammer. He pressed his hand against his ears, but the voice was _inside_ his head. There was no way he could shut it off. 

Blood dripped down his chin and he wiped it away, trying to swallow the angry nausea and dizziness.

He had bit his lip, hard. 

Gripping the edges of the bathtub so tight that his knuckles turned white, he dipped his head underwater and held his breath, knowing that more nightmares were waiting for him as soon as he would close his eyes and tried to find comfort in his sleep. 

On his tongue he could still taste the sweet chocolate, in his mind he still saw the pretty smile. He tried to hold onto this picture. Didn’t work, the next moment his vision spun and all he could see and smell and feel was the blood of an innocent man.

He sat up, took a deep breath and reached for his phone while balancing a cigarette between his lips, lit it after three failed attempts because his fingers were trembling as hell. 

He had to do something to turn his fate around right here and now. Johnny took a drag on his cigarette, smoke billowing out of his mouth, and waited for someone to pick up.

"Heeeey, Yuta!" he greeted his partner from darker, older, more dangerous days. "Hope your head's still on your shoulders." Exhaling the smoke out of his lungs, he straightened up, water splashing around his knees. "Okay, listen, long story short: I got suspended. However, that doesn't mean I have to sit idly by and wait for something to happen." A mirthless snort. "Remember the time I took the bullet from the sniper for you?" The scar on his left shoulder started itching, as if it wanted to remind him with lovely hello. "You owe me one and it's about time we changed that. 

Cold sweat trickled down his back as he stood up and trotted to the refrigerator. A sad sight, but it reflected his inner life quite well, didn't it? Beer and a container full of kimchi from the tiny grandmother one floor below. Homemade. He had gotten her cat out of the tree and this was the reward for his heroic effort. A good deed a day washes your sins away. 

"I know you don't do this shit anymore, but please make a small exception for your favorite man." He put his phone between his ear and shoulder, held it there, and grabbed a beer, popped it open. "I need you to provide me with some information about _that_ man." He paused. Nodded. "Oh, it's nothing special." An evil grin spread on his face and he ignored the tremor in his stomach. "Just need to hunt him down. I'll shoot a golden bullet straight through his heart."

*********************

Speechless, Taeyong stared at the door that his new neighbor had simply slammed in his face. His jaw trembled, that's how pissed he was, and he aggressively shoved one of the cookies into his mouth that were meant for the other neighbors. What was with this guy and his attitude? 

His skin crawled with an unscratchable itch as he recalled their short conversation and realized that this guy had made him _furious_ and his blood boil. Oh, fuck him. These had been Lee Youngho's first and last cookies ever. For now. Okay, he shouldn't be so hard, they had just gotten off on the wrong foot. 

Just as he was thinking about ringing the bell again and voicing his opinion - unfair treatment was a big no-go for him - his phone buzzed. Checking the display, he sighed as he saw it was his best friend and picked up.

"Doyongie! You were thinking about me, how sweet of you." _How very sweet of you. Any chance I can keep you?_ Taeyong winced, slammed the door of his apartment shut. Good thing this guy wasn’t his type. He loved boring guys. Quiet guys. Guys without a big sassy flap. Oh shit, why had this guy irritated him to this extent? 

"Hey Tyong. Thought I'd check in on the situation. How's the apartment? Settled in yet?"

Taeyong turned on the kettle and leaned against the refrigerator. 

"The place is great, but the neighbors take a little getting used to," he said, reaching for the green tea and grimacing as he found the box being empty. His alternative was his mother's peppermint tea. 

"A little good drama never hurt anyone." Taeyong heard voices in the background, paper rustling. "Are you ready for tomorrow? New city, new job. It all must be a lot to deal with."

"No, I'm excited to be here.I can hardly believe my luck that a position has opened up so suddenly at your company. Thanks for the recommendation."

Doyoun laughed softly. "You're a first-class agent, no one here could have turned you down. They'll like you, don't worry. Bring your famous cookies."

"Was that the quality you were advertising me with?"

"No?"

Taeyong sighed. "Okay. See you tomorrow, Doyoungie."

"Get yourself comfortable with your new life. Enjoy your first night in your new home and see you at work tomorrow."

Doyoung hung up. 

Taking another peek at his cocky neighbor's door, Taeyong just shook his head. This could wait. But somehow he had a bad feeling that this would be just the beginning of an unnerving, annoying and intriguing relationship. But for now, he decided to forget this encounter ever happened and banished it to the back of his mind.


End file.
